ChinaTeacher

This is my 6^th WINTER in China – unbelievable!   I hate winters in China so much that it’s impossible to believe I have lasted so long.  I can still remember my first winter experience in China, back in 2004/2005.  I was living in a small town near Guangzhou at the time. Guangdong Province is located quite far south of here (close to Hong Kong).  Yet the winters there are very cold and damp – similar to what I experience here in Hangzhou every year. 

The reason these “bone-chilling winters” are so trying for us Westerners is the fact that everyone lives in uninsulated homes.  When the Chinese construct a building, they simply throw up walls of brick and mortar, plaster them over and – voila – your new home is ready!  So, it’s easy to see how someone’s home can be built at a very fast pace indeed, but with no regard for personal comfort.    

Tonight, it’s freezing cold outside.  As I’m writing this email, my apartment heater is on, as is my personal space heater, but it’s still pretty drafty in here.  Before I go to bed tonight, I’ll pre-heat my electric blanket for 30 minutes and then turn off all my heaters when I climb into my personal ‘oven’ – ah, heaven.  Of course, in the middle of the night I’ll have to turn off my electric blanket because I’ll be too warm.  That cheap electric blanket has saved me many a sleepless night over the past few years.  I’m sorry I won’t be able to take it back to Canada with me.

My poor students don’t have the luxury of heat in their dormitories.  For the life of me, I don’t know how they can stand the cold, and it must be difficult for them to focus on their studies.  Everyone tells me they are used to it, but how can a body adjust when temperatures then soar to 40+ degrees come summertime?  It’s bad enough that I have to teach in unheated/unair-conditioned classrooms, but at least I can escape to my comfortable apartment, with its heater and air conditioner!  I will never take such luxuries for granted again, that’s for sure!

Yes, this will definitely be my last year in China.  It’s been a terrific adventure, and one that I truly did not think would span 6 years.  My initial plan was to come to China, teach for 2-3 years while I travel around Asia during the holidays.  How could 6 years pass by so quickly?  Well, now that I teach at a Chinese university, I can easily see why. 

First of all, the school year starts in September and the first of many holidays comes at the beginning of October (7-10 days).  And, just as soon as I get back into the swing of things come mid-October, it’s time to start planning my LONG trip for the Jan/Feb break (usually 5-6 weeks!).  One year I did a trip that involved 2 weeks in Laos, followed by 4 weeks in Vietnam – wow, that was an amazing holiday!  But there’s more: we also get the entire summer off (8-10 weeks).  Life is good, provided that travel through Asia continues to be an economical option.  I remember spending a month in Thailand in 2005 – I couldn’t find ways to spend all my money – Thailand is much cheaper than China!

So, as the months pass by, and my departure date approaches, I am going to take the time to appreciate both the good and bad about living and working in China. 

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This entry was posted on Saturday, December 26th, 2009 at 2:50 am and is filed under 1. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.